Defy the Stars
by Tahiri Solo
Summary: *WARNING: Major spoilers for Star By Star* Another of my corrections of SbS, with a different plot than Wrap Me In Your Wings.


Defy the Stars   
By Tahiri Solo  
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Disclaimer: All the characters, places and such mentioned in this are the property of Lucasfilm. I own nothing and an in no way making any money off of this story. The song belongs to Bliss Team, I am not Bliss Team therefore I do not own it and am getting no money off of it. Also, if this bears any resemblance to stories written by others, that is purely coincidental. No infringement is intended.  
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And even though I feel so sad I had to scream my pain   
And even though you passed away   
You're in my heart to stay   
Cause love is forever   
I got a feeling in my heart   
I got a feeling   
So strong it tears my soul apart   
I got this feeling in my heart   
I know I just can't stop   
Because within me there's you   
I got this feeling in my heart   
I know I just can't stop   
Because within me there's you   
Cause love is forever  
  
Bliss Team, Love is Forever  
  
  
  
Tahiri Veila lay by the side of her best friend's body, her own small form convulsing with sobs. One hand was stroking his chest, the other pressed over her mouth in a vain attempt to muffle her wails.   
  
How could he be dead? her heart screamed. He was only seventeen, and the most powerful of the Jedi on their strike team. There was absolutely no way a single amphistaff could have been responsible for killing Anakin Solo.  
  
He had been her protector, her savior, her first friend and only family, the person she loved with all her heart.   
  
He had been her everything, and now he was gone.  
  
Whimpering quietly, Tahiri pressed herself even closer to him and laid her head on his chest, listening in vain for the beating of his heart. His entire midriff was covered in bandages to hide his wound, his body long removed from the Yuuzhan Vong husk.   
  
Her fingers reached up touch his cheek, then recoiled. He was so cold. Tahiri slipped off the medical table/bed, then fumbled around in the dark for a blanket. Once she had found one, she carefully covered him with it, then slid in underneath it herself.   
  
She stroked his cheek, whispering softly to him. "Everything's okay, Anakin. We'll find Cilghal, and she'll heal you. Then everything will be back to normal. We can be together again."  
  
Tahiri stared at his face expectantly, praying for some sort of response.   
  
None came.  
  
She longed to see his beautiful blue eyes again, to hear his voice tell her everything was going to be okay, that he would never leave her. But more than anything, she just wanted to be held.  
  
Sighing, Tahiri pressed as close as she could to Anakin's side, then moved his arm so that it was wrapped around her waist. "I'm going to sleep now, Anakin," Tahiri whispered, "and I'll wait for you to wake up."  
  
Still listening in vain for the beat of his heart, Tahiri drifted off into sleep.  
  
  
She was finally awoken by the sound of voices.  
  
"Tahiri. Tahiri, wake up."  
  
Her eyes blinked reluctantly open, and she saw Tionne and Cilghal standing over her, grave expressions on both of their faces. As soon as Tahiri saw Cilghal, she sat bolt upright and gripped the Calamari's arm.  
  
"Cilghal! Cilghal, you have to heal Anakin! He needs a healer."  
  
Cilghal looked down at the girl, her eyes sad. "Tahiri, there is nothing I can do. Anakin is already dead."  
  
Tahiri's green eyes blazed. "He is not dead! He can't be dead!"  
  
"Tahiri, I'm sorry," Tionne whispered, her voice sad. "There is nothing we can do for Anakin."  
  
"There has to be something we can do!" Tahiri nearly yelled. Then she flung herself into Tionne's arms. "Anakin isn't dead. He can't be. I need him."  
  
Tionne held her, stroking her hair. "There's nothing we can do, Tahiri," she whispered. "I wish we could do something, but it's out of our hands now. Anakin is gone."  
  
"We came to take his body to the morgue," Cighal said softly. "We can't just leave him here."  
  
Tahiri pulled back from Tionne, a strange gleam in her eyes. "You're not taking him from me."  
  
"Tahiri, we don't have any choice. He cannot stay here."  
  
"You're not taking his body anywhere without mine," Tahiri cried, then withdrew a knife she had kept hidden in a pocket of her jumpsuit. Before anyone could stop her, she slashed it across her wrist.   
  
The girl didn't cry out in pain or try to stop the flow of blood that poured down her hand and puddled on the floor. Staggering, she moved to Anakin's side and collapsed onto his chest, then was still.   
  
  
The next thing Tahiri knew, she was enveloped by a bright light. Still, despite the pain, she forced her eyes open and began to search for Anakin.  
  
It was some time before her vision cleared and she could see anything at all. But when she could, the first thing her eyes settled on were a very familiar pair of ice-blue eyes.   
  
Her eyes widened, gleaming with delight. She cried out his name and began to run towards him, but halted when he raised a hand.  
  
"Tahiri, stop!"  
  
She did so, puzzled at the harsh tone of his voice. "Anakin?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"Tahiri, don't move," Anakin said, his voice a command.   
  
Now Tahiri was confused. He'd never used that tone of voice with her before, and it almost frightened her. "Anakin?" she asked again.   
  
"You're not completely dead yet," he answered. "If you come over to me, you'll cross over. Stay where you are."  
  
She shook her head. "No, Anakin. I didn't go through all the pain of slicing my wrist just to see you for a minute then have you yell at me to go back home. I did it to be with you." She started to walk towards him, but Anakin's strangled cry stopped her in her tracks.  
  
"Tahiri, why the hell are you doing this?"  
  
Tears filled his eyes, and Tahiri stiffened in shock. She'd never seen Anakin like this before.   
  
"Tahiri, please," he begged. "Don't come any closer. It's not your time yet."  
  
"It wasn't your time either," Tahiri replied hotly. "But you're certainly staying here. And if you are, then so am I. Where you go, I go."  
  
"Tahiri, you can't stay with me. One of us dying was bad enough. I can't be responsible for killing you too."  
  
"Don't you want me with you?" Tahiri said, her voice barely audible, crying herself.  
  
"Oh, Tahiri," Anakin whispered. "Don't you ever think I don't want you with me. I need you, more than you could even imagine."  
  
"Then let me stay," Tahiri said.   
  
Anakin shook his head. "You know I can't do that."  
  
"Why not? We're meant to be together, and we should be. If we can only be together in death, then so be it."  
  
"Why can't I let you stay dead?" Anakin said, a thousand emotions evident in his eyes. "Because I love you, Tahiri, that's why! I am not letting the only girl I've ever loved die! You mean too much to me to ever let that happen."  
  
"I love you too, Anakin," Tahiri whispered, yearning to touch him, to feel his strong arms wrapped around her once again. "That's why I have to stay. I can't live without you. If I stay . . . things will be like they always were. And after seeing you again, I couldn't bear going back." She wiped tears from her eyes. "Now is not the time to be going all protective on me, Anakin."  
  
"Oh, Tahiri," Anakin sighed. "I love you more than anything in the entire galaxy. How can you expect me to let you die? I am begging you. Go back. I know you don't think you could bear it, but you're strong. You can. And you'll never be alone. I'll always be watching you . . . I'll watch you grow up, find another man to love, watch you get married and have his children . . . Even though you don't believe it now, I promise you, you will be happy. I'll see to it."  
  
Her quiet crying turned into weeping at his words. "I don't want to find someone else. You're all I've ever wanted, ever will want. I want to spend forever with you, to have your children. I need you, Anakin. Please, let me stay. I love you."  
  
"Things will never be the same between us even if you do stay here," Anakin told her softly. "Things are different here. Touch is nonexistent. I don't know how I could look at you constantly and never be able to hold you or touch your beautiful face, or kiss your lips."  
  
"I'll take whatever we can get," Tahiri said stubbornly.   
  
"Tahiri -"  
  
Tahiri cut him off by showing him her wrist, which even in the astral plane they were in bore a nasty scar. "I won't live without you. I can't. Don't make me leave, because I will only just keep coming back."  
  
Anakin saw it in her eyes and heard it in her voice. She needed him, and was willing to give up her own life in order to stay by his side. Anakin knew she couldn't live without him - just as he knew he would be unable to go on without her.   
  
But how could he let the one person he loved most take away her own life?  
  
She deserved so much more than that, Anakin knew. Her family had been ripped from her, she had been tortured and assimilated by the Yuuzhan Vong, and then her love was killed. And she was barely fifteen.  
  
There was no way he could let her lose her own life on top of that. But he couldn't force her to the kind of life he knew she would have without him.   
  
Anakin closed his eyes and drew on the Force for guidance.   
  
As he silently pleaded for a solution and an end to Tahiri's pain, Master Ikrit's words drifted into his mind: "You two are better than the sum of your parts. Together, you two could -"  
  
Anakin had always wondered what the ancient Master had intended to say and thought better of. Now, he thought he knew.  
  
Making a decision, he reached out in the Force and touched Tahiri.  
  
Tahiri's eyes widened in wonderment and delight as she felt herself being pulled further away from her physical body and closer to Anakin. He wanted her with him. He was taking her away from the torment she had known all her life, and was bringing her home to rest at his side. Reaching out to touch him in the Force as well, eager to deepen the connection, she began walking towards him.   
  
Slowly, he began walking towards her as well.   
  
They reached each other and simply stood, staring into each other's eyes and souls, reveling in the feeling of completeness that came from the mental melding. Anakin slowly raised a hand, and Tahiri placed her own small hand against his.  
  
They both nearly pulled back in shock, because they could feel each other. Physically, and not just through the Force. Anakin lifted her hand to his cheek, holding it there and staring down at her as a man who has lived his life in the desert stares at an ocean.   
  
Tentatively, they moved closer together, and his arms went around her waist, holding her close against his chest. Slowly, softly, their lips met.  
  
Filled with an overwhelming sense of joy at the touch of each other's lips, they clung fiercely to each other, losing themselves into each other until their thoughts began to blur.  
  
When their meld reached such an intense level that neither could distinguish their thoughts from each other, there was an flash on intense white light, and then, the white disappeared into black and paralyzing pain.   
  
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The Skywalkers, Kam, Tionne, and Corran were all sitting together, in a state of shock and sadness. Tionne was weeping silently into Kam's shoulder, trembling as her husband held her close and stroked her hair.   
  
Mara got up from where she sat beside Luke and went over to her silver-haired friend, laying a hand on her bobbing shoulder. "Tionne," she said in a gentle voice that was rather unlike her, "Tahiri is with Anakin now. She loved him, more than anything else - just as he loved her. She'd lost so much already - her parents, Tatooine fell to the Vong, her own imprisonment - she couldn't bear losing her best friend too. She could never have been truly happy again." Mara sighed. "I know this is hard, and that you loved Tahiri, but she's with Anakin now. You have to remember that."  
  
Tionne finally pulled her face away from Kam's shoulder and looked at Mara, her pearly white eyes now red from crying. "I know that," she whispered. "I just wish - "  
  
But she was cut off as a tremendous jolt in the Force blew through them all, nearly sending them to their knees. They stared at each other in utter confusion, until Corran ran a hand over his eyes and said, "Sithspawn! What the hell have Anakin and Tahiri done this time?"  
  
Then his eyes widened as he realized what he had just said, and what he - and all the others - were sensing. "Wait a minute."  
  
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Tahiri's eyes blinked open, and immediately watered with pain. Fighting back the urge to vomit, she closed her eyes, but before she could focus on and diminish the pain with the Force, it was suddenly gone. She groaned softly and opened her eyes again.   
  
She was in the same room she had been in when she had died.  
  
Trembling, she raised her head and looked around just to be sure.   
  
She was alive again.  
  
Her mind spinning dizzily, she turned eagerly to Anakin. If she was alive, that must mean he was as well. Whatever they had managed through the Force had brought him back to her.  
  
Heart beating wildly, she looked at Anakin, expecting to see the familiar ice-blue eyes she had always loved.   
  
But Anakin wasn't moving. He looked exactly as he did when she had last seen him. He was still dead.  
  
Her heart went from wild beating to nearly stopping again. Anakin had tricked her. Her best friend, and only love, had tricked her. She suddenly understood what had happened. He had brought her back to life, somehow, but had stayed behind himself.  
  
Filled with an infinite anger at what he had done, what he had cheated her out of, she very nearly slapped his lifeless body across the face.   
  
But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she turned away from him, drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her hands. She wept uncontrollably, whispering his name over and over as if by calling him he would somehow come back to her.   
  
She stayed like that, desperate for Anakin and cursing him at the same time, wanting to die but knowing that Anakin would never let her stay dead, until she felt strong arms wrap gently around her shaking form, and heard a soft voice whisper in her ear.   
  
"Tahiri, baby, what's wrong?"  
  
Her head flung up and twisted around, and she suddenly found herself staring into Anakin's ice-blue eyes. She screamed and flung herself at him, knocking him back onto the bed. She landed in a heap on top of him, staring down at him with wide eyes, hardly daring to breathe.   
  
They simply stared at each other, until Anakin suddenly reached up and pulled her down on top of his chest, covering her mouth fiercely with his. Tahiri gasped softly with surprise and pleasure, melting against him, her body limp as she kissed him back. Their mouths were tearing at each other with an intense desperation, his hands roaming her back and hers caressing his face, tears streaming from both of their eyes.   
  
Anakin held her like that for uncounted minutes, never wanting to let her leave his arms, until his injuries began to throb from her weight. He gently slid her off his chest until she was laying on her back, never breaking the kiss. Tahiri's only response was to pull him as close to her as possible. They came up for air, took one look into each other's eyes, then Anakin brought his mouth back down on hers, unable to break the contact.   
  
"I love you," he whispered just before his mouth met hers, his breath tickling her lips.   
  
But just as they were getting into the kiss, the door burst open.  
  
"Sithspawn! Kids these days! One minute they're dead, the next minute they're getting it on!"   
  
Recognizing the voice as his Aunt Mara's, Anakin instantly pulled back from Tahiri. But before he could even begin to explain anything, Corran said, "We can't even leave you two unchaperoned when you're dead!"  
  
"What the hell happened?"   
  
Anakin's eyebrows shot up when he heard his uncle swear. "It's a long story, Uncle Luke. And Aunt Mara, we were not 'getting it on'. I love her, but we're still young . . ."  
  
"Whatever," Mara said. "You still have one hell of a lot of explaining to do."  
  
Sighing, Anakin sat up, and, gathering Tahiri into his arms, still unable to let go of her, he began to tell the story of what had happened.   
  
  
When he was finally finished explaining things as best he could, everyone was staring at him, wide-eyed with shock. Luke rubbed his hand over his eyes in disbelief. "I never even knew something like that was possible."  
  
"Neither did I," Anakin said. "But I'm eternally grateful that it was."  
  
Finally, Tionne and Mara couldn't sit still anymore. They rushed over to the two young Jedi siting wrapped in each other's arms, and Tionne pulled Tahiri away from Anakin and into her own arms, holding her tight and weeping. Mara, however, grabbed Anakin by the shoulders and shook him fiercely.  
  
"You brainless, moronic, Hutt slime! Look at what you've done! Your poor mother is in pieces over your 'death', so is your father - he blames himself for letting you go and for all the things he said to you after Chewbacca died. Lando blames himself; Luke and I did too. Jacen was absolutely devastated, despite how you two fought; your sister turned to the dark side out of grief! Hell, Anakin, even the damn droids miss you!"   
  
Anakin's face paled with horror. "Jaya? Sith? Tell me you're joking," he whispered.  
  
Luke shook his head sadly.   
  
"Where is she?" Anakin demanded. "Do you even know?"  
  
"We're not sure where she is, but we do know that Zekk, at least, is with her."  
  
The relief was apparent in Anakin's eyes, and he nodded firmly. "Then she'll be okay. Zekk isn't going to let anything happen to her. She's safe as long as she's with him."  
  
"Anakin," Luke said, "I have to contact your parents and tell them what's happened. Your siblings too, if I can find them." He stood up and headed for the door, and everyone else, except for Anakin and Tahiri, followed him.   
  
Luke paused just before leaving. "Force, Anakin, it's good to have you back." Then he was gone.  
  
Anakin stood up and walked cautiously around the room. "It's amazing how much you miss normal, simple things like walking," he told Tahiri.   
  
Tahiri stood up as well and followed him as he paced the room. Then, very suddenly, she stopped and slammed him up against a wall.  
  
"Ow! Tahiri, what -"   
  
But he didn't get a chance to finish, because she began kissing him. Anakin instantly stopped protesting, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her back.   
  
When Tahiri finally pulled away just long enough to catch a breath, Anakin grinned mischievously down at her. "So you missed me, huh?"  
  
"Shut up," Tahiri said fiercely, pressing him back up against the wall and silencing him with another kiss.   
  
  
They stayed like that until Anakin finally felt some sort of liquid falling onto his cheeks, and realized Tahiri was crying. He gently pulled back, and when they separated, Tahiri choked back a sob.   
  
"Hey, hey," Anakin whispered, tenderly smoothing her curly blonde hair away from her face. "Tahiri, what's wrong?"  
  
She didn't reply, but buried her face in his shirt, still crying.  
  
"Oh, Tahiri," Anakin sighed, picking her up and carrying her over to a nearby couch. He gently put her down and then sat next to her, cradling her in his arms. "Please tell me what's wrong," he murmured into her hair.  
  
"You'd know what was wrong if you stopped to think about it." She clung to him, her face pressed into his chest. "I don't want to lose you again."  
  
Anakin rocked her back and forth, kissing the top of her head softly. "You're not going to lose me."  
  
"You don't know that. You certainly didn't know that you were going to be killed. Things happen we can't control."  
  
"I love you, Tahiri. I promise you, I am never letting us be separated again."   
  
She pulled back to look at him. "This is one promise you had better keep, Anakin Solo," she whispered.   
  
"You know I would never break a promise to you, especially not one like this," Anakin whispered back. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, before covering her mouth with his. He held her close against his chest, feeling her heart beat against his and ran his fingers through her hair, loving the silky feel of it. She buried her fingers in his hair, pressing herself as close to him as possible.  
  
When they finally had to come up for air, Tahiri laid her head on his lap and sighed. "Love you, Anakin," she murmured sleepily. Her exhaustion finally overcame her, and she closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.  
  
Anakin smiled faintly. "Love you too, Tahiri," he murmured back, stroking her hair.   
  
*Force, she's beautiful when she sleeps,* Anakin thought, watching the rise and fall of her breathing. *I never would have thought that I would feel this way about my best friend, but I do. She's my entire life - I love her more than anything.*  
  
Anakin's own fatigue, which he hadn't even noticed up until now, suddenly crept up on him. Stifling a yawn, he carefully picked Tahiri up and carried her over to the bed. He gently laid her on the bed, and smiled down at her sleeping form before sliding in next to her and wrapping his arms around her. Tahiri rolled over and nestled against him in her sleep, and Anakin smiled again before drifting off into sleep to join her.   
  
  
Tahiri's eyelids fluttered, and when they opened fully, she found that she couldn't see a thing.   
  
She quickly realized that her face was pressed into Anakin's shirt, and she grinned a little, loving the feel and smell of him laying next to her.  
  
She felt Anakin nuzzle his face against her hair, and she sighed contentedly, pulling back slightly, just enough so she could see him.   
  
"Morning, beautiful," Anakin said with a smile, caressing her cheek. Tahiri blushed, and Anakin's smile broadened.   
  
"I love waking up next to you," Tahiri said softly. "Those big blue eyes are the first thing I want to see in the morning." She sighed heavily. "I missed seeing them."  
  
"Oh, Tahiri," Anakin whispered, his voice thick with emotion at sensing her pain. "I'm not leaving you again. I love you."  
  
"Of course you do. Now shut up and kiss me." Her eyes, once sad, now sparkled with mischief, and Anakin had to laugh. Without any warning, Anakin grabbed her and kissed her fiercely, once again making her go limp against his chest.   
  
He teased her for several minutes, caressing her lips with his, until she was trembling uncontrollably. He sensed her pure delight at his touch, and trailed his hand down her arm. He gently brought her hand to the back of his neck, where her fingers buried themselves in his hair.   
  
He could feel her heart beating, and her pulse was racing, much as his own was. Their feelings for each pounded over the two young Jedi like crashing waves, rendering them both helpless to pull away. Anakin slipped his tongue gently between her lips, softly caressing the insides of her mouth.  
  
Tahiri very nearly lost all control and fainted right then and there, but somehow managed to stay conscious, though all she could do was lay there and tremble as he kissed her.  
  
After several minutes, she finally managed to regain some control, and began kissing him back, slipping her own tongue into his mouth. Anakin, never breaking the kiss, rolled her over onto her back and gently lowered himself on top of her. Tahiri didn't protest; her hands fumbled at the hemline of his shirt. Anakin pulled back just long enough for her to tear it off, then found her mouth with his again.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity of intense kissing, Anakin disengaged and gently pulled back Tahiri whimpered softly when his lips left hers, but then gasped with pleasure as they found her neck, sucking gently.   
  
She tried in vain to catch her breath, but Anakin's kisses rendered her unable to do so.   
  
"Anakin," she gasped finally, when she had enough air to speak. "Anakin, if - if you don't stop now, I'm never going to be able to, and they'd kill us if we . . ." Her voice trailed off.   
  
Anakin instantly pulled back and gently slid off her, sensing her fear at what could happen if they didn't stop then, and realizing that Tahiri was very right.  
  
He sat at the edge of the bed, running his fingers through his tousled hair. "Oh, Tahiri," he breathed. "Sithspawn, I'm sorry . . . I should have never gone that far." His ice-blue eyes gazed earnestly into her adventurine ones. "You know I would never, ever hurt you like that . . . don't you?"  
  
"Of course I do, dummy," she said with her old grin that he had loved for so long. "I've only been your best friend for six years. I know you better than you know yourself."  
  
"That's definitely true," Anakin admitted with a grin of his own; then his expression turned serious. "I just want you to know that I would never do anything to you like that."  
  
"Never?" Tahiri asked with a slight pout that Anakin knew was teasing. "You better not say never. Not today, no, but someday. Definitely someday."  
  
Her eyes were sparkling with amusement, and Anakin had to laugh. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, hugging her fiercely. "Definitely someday," Anakin agreed with a grin. "But not yet. We have our entire lives in front of us."  
  
Tahiri pulled back and looked up at him with a joyous smile on her face. He was right, she realized. They had their entire lives ahead of them, lives filled with love and companionship, passion and comfort.  
  
And Tahiri had never looked forward to the future quite as much as she did at that moment. 


End file.
